Social Recommendation Just Got a Lot Easier with the New Glue Add-ons

There are plenty of services out there trying to help you figure out what you like, well, what you would like if you only knew about it. And there are plenty more sites that try to predict what might be relevant, useful or entertaining for you from Google search to Last.fm and Netflix. That said social network/browser add-on Glue seems to be on the right track, especially with the latest update to the browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome, which add a small hover button and pop up overlay to links to artists, movies, topics, etc. and does this, surprisingly, without being too intrusive.

"We are releasing an exciting update to GetGlue addons for Firefox and Chrome today. When you update you will be able to enjoy Glue not only on popular sites, but also on search pages, blogs and any web page that links to Amazon, IMDB, Last.fm, Wikipedia and dozens of other popular sites," the announcement on the Glue blog read.

"Here is how it works: Glue checks links on the page you are visit[ing] and when it recognizes a book, a movie, an album, a star or a topic it inserts a small gray [G] icon next to the link. When you hover over the icon you will see Glue Tip packed with conversations, previews, pictures, videos, trailers, ratings, reviews and more," the post explained.

Glue is set up as a social network that centers on the things you and your friends like. These don't necessarily have to be a band or a movie, the number of topics that you can 'like' is pretty big and there is probably an entry on anything you're interested in.

At first, Glue was just a browser extension, and worked not unlike Delicious or Stumble Upon in some sense. But it was only after an accompanying website was introduced that the service took off. With the updated extensions, usage is likely to get another boost, as it is now a lot easier to like, or dislike something you find in a search or on a blog.